To What Tickets to These Guidelines Apply


Guidelines for Tier 1 and Tier 2 that are handled at the local level may be different than these guidelines. The following apply to all Tier 3 and Tier 4 tickets as well as Tier 2 tickets that are managed by a Support Ticket.  To make the most of your use of support, we recommend that you read our "Best Practices" article.


Five Minute Billing Increments

We use software that manages tickets in five-minute increments. We start the clock at the commencement of work on a specific ticket and stop the clock at incremental completion. Upon designation of the ticket as "resolved" we then total the time of sequential increments to arrive at the next billable time unit. To demonstrate, please note how it would work for this example. 

  1. Client submits a ticket. Support Agent reads and does initial work for 4 minutes. They then ask a clarifying question. Ticket is set to "Waiting on Customer"
  2. Customer responds and agent takes the desired action or gives a directive reply. Work takes 3 minutes.  Ticket is set to "Resolved."
  3. The billing increment is set at 10 minutes (4 plus 3 is seven minutes, so we set to the next 5-interval which is 10).
  4. Customer replies with a related, but different second request and the ticket is reopened.
  5. Agent begins work on the ticket and works for 6 minutes. Replies and sets ticket to resolved.  
  6. An additional 10 minute billing increment is assessed bringing the total to this ticket to 20 minutes.
In the event that point #4, when the customer replied, was in fact found to be an incomplete resolution to the error on the part of the agent, then the clock in step 5 for six minutes would instead be a continuation of the initial clock. So the billable increment would be 4 plus 3 plus 6 for a total of thirteen minutes which would then be billable at 15 minutes rather than 20.

Non-Chargeable Items
The following are items for which there is no charge.
  • For parts of a call or conversation not related to support. (e.g. If you ask some other general questions, the clock doesn't run. It starts when the conversation moves to support.)
  • If the script is found to have a programming error. (You will not be charged for fixing the error, but the responsible for fixing affected data lies with the customer. Tier 3 may be able to repair errors more quickly than manual manipulation, but those situations will be handled on a case by case basis).
  • An initial inquiry about the possibility of using Tier 3 or Tier 4. The initial inquiry about the possibility is not billable, but if it is deemed possible and the conversation moves to details related to implementation, then that dialog is billable.
  • The preparation of a help center answer. If you ask a question that the agent determines would benefit the masses by having an answer in the Help Center, then you'll only be billed as if the answer already existed. You will NOT be billed for the placement of the answer in the help center.
  • You are not billed for tickets that are directly passed down to Tier 1 or Tier 2.
  • You are not billed for tickets in which it is determined there is no need for support. (e.g. If you write and ask if we can do something and we say, "no, that's not possible" then you are not billed.
  • You are also not billed to get an estimate for a feature addition.

What about Phone Calls
If you call and talk directly with an agent, the clock runs the entire time that you are on the call.  Therefore, a call will most likely be more expensive than submitting a ticket where you would be directed to "self-help" sections of the Web site, but in many cases you will get faster action. As they say, time is money and you simply need to weigh the advantage of getting a faster reply with a back and forth exchange of information.

What about Chat
Chat is a little tricky because it is not continuous.  So although the agent starts the clock at the start of the chat, it will most likely be adjusted downward to a range of 50% to 75% of the total minutes. It will be a judgement call of the agent based on how much other work was accomplished in the midst of the chat conversation.

When Am I Billed
For an individual event, you are billed when the event is set to closed which typically occurs 30 days after the event. The billing will come from our billing agent, FreshBooks